Updated with this evening's protest

The 12 ancient tombs and two catacombs discovered under a road in Baħrija will be carefully conserved before the road is reinstated, the Times of Malta has learnt.

A team of five archaeologists and three support staff are examining the remains unearthed last week during works to change the locality’s sewerage system.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Bahrija residents and other areas in the vicinity took to the streets in protest this evening venting their frustration during a protest against a government project “gone wrong”.

They argued that a much needed project to have drainage mains installed had turned into a massive inconvenient as it has already taken a year-and-a-half and was nowhere near completion.

12 tombs and two catacombs lie under a road in Baħrija. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

The conservation process, according to Culture Superintendent Anthony Pace, is expected to take around four weeks, as the project continues to try the patience of residents who are fed up of the situation they have endured for more than a year.

Residents of Baħrija and the surrounding areas are being abandoned and isolated. Even deliverymen are not bringing goods here

“Almost 2,000 residents are being diverted through very poor roads. We have suffered and are still suffering from this situation. We are wrecking our cars, getting stuck in traffic, risking our lives due to poorly lit roads, taking 20 more minutes to get to a destination and spending much more money on fuel,” said Sharon Cauchi, one of the organisers of the protest.

“This is impossible and a big discrimination. We pay taxes as much as other Maltese citizens and we want our lives back to normal. Residents of Baħrija and the surrounding areas are being abandoned and isolated. Even our deliverymen are not bringing goods here,” she added.

Dr Pace told the Times of Malta that the discovered tombs range in date from the eighth century BC to the Roman period. The catacombs, on the other hand, date to the Christian era, from about the third or fourth century AD.

“In addition to these burial structures, cart-ruts and a series of water channels were also unearthed,” he said.

“Work entails excavation and detailed examination of deposits, anthropological examination and lifting of ancient human remains, recording and surveying… This work will run parallel to the laying of services by the Water Services Corporation,” he said.

Asked whether efforts will be made to find alternative roads to preserve the remains, Dr Pace said the “discoveries are being carefully conserved underneath the reinstated road”. This is umpteenth hiccup the project has faced after more tombs were discovered while workers were digging out part of the locality. But while residents feel that the project is needed, they are furious that it has been dragging on for so long.

Last week, residents said their patience was “running out”. The sewerage project, estimated to cost about €3.5 million in EU cohesion funds, is being undertaken by the Water Services Corporation.

The inconvenience to residents was raised in Parliament by Nationalist MP Antoine Borg recently. He spoke about hardships experienced by businesses in Baħrija as suppliers were refusing to deliver goods because of the works and bad roads.

This evening, the residents lamented that lack of planning led to the permanent closure of the main road leading to Bahrija, with traffic deviated trough other minor roads.

As a result, it was taking them an additional half hour to reach their homes.

“Apart from the additional time we need to reach our homes, the alternative roads have not been arranged before with the consequence that our cars have been severely damaged,” Sharon Cauchi, one of the residents said.

“All we are asking for is to get on with the project and complete it as this cannot go on forever,” a 70-year-old resident insisted.

Carrying placards against the delays, residents said that recent archaeological remains found in the area was the latest “excuse” to further delay the project.